CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Sept. 9, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- ImmusanT announced today that Ferdinand E. Massari, MD has joined the biopharmaceutical company as Senior Vice President, Development and Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Massari will oversee the clinical development program for the therapeutic vaccine Nexvax2® for celiac disease and its companion diagnostic, as well as future development programs for other autoimmune diseases.

"Ferdinand will be a valuable contributor to ImmusanT with his diverse expertise in drug development and immunology. He will help shape and drive the clinical development of Nexvax2, a disease-modifying treatment, and our companion diagnostic for celiac disease patients in search of an alternative to a gluten free diet," commented Leslie Williams, President and CEO of ImmusanT.

"By joining the ImmusanT team, I have the opportunity and privilege to make a significant impact on a community of patients whose only option is a gluten free diet," commented Dr. Massari. "I look forward to helping advance the clinical development of Nexvax2 to an even broader, international patient population."

Dr. Massari has over 20 years of experience in all stages of drug development and comes to ImmusanT having most recently served as a consultant providing product candidate evaluation and clinical plan development services to companies and investors. Previously, Dr. Massari was Global Head and Vice President of Clinical and Medical Affairs at Shire Human Genetic Therapies, where he was responsible for the oversight of global development of products to treat rare genetic disorders. Earlier, Dr. Massari served as Senior Vice President of Drug Development and Chief Medical Officer at Coley Pharmaceutical Group where he oversaw the development of novel therapeutics for hepatitis C infection and lupus. Dr. Massari has held executive positions at Pfizer where he led clinical programs for ZYVOX (linezolid), one of the most successful hospital antibiotics to date. He began his career at Merck where he was its first HIV-trained physician-scientist and served as Director, Clinical Research, Infectious Disease.

Dr. Massari is board certified in internal medicine and trained in allergy and immunology in the Laboratory of Immunoregulation at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health. Dr. Massari obtained his M.D. from the Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, PA, and his B.A. in political science with a pre-med concentration from the University of Maryland.

About ImmusanT, Inc.ImmusanT is a privately-held biotechnology company focused on restoring tolerance to gluten in celiac disease by harnessing new discoveries in immunology that aim to improve diagnosis and treatment and return patients to a normal diet, good health and improved quality of life. The company is developing Nexvax2®, a therapeutic vaccine for celiac disease, and a companion diagnostic and monitoring tool to improve celiac disease management. ImmusanT's targeted immunotherapy discovery platform can be applied to a variety of epitope-specific autoimmune diseases. Founded in 2010, ImmusanT is backed by Vatera Healthcare Partners. More information can be found at www.ImmusanT.com or follow ImmusanT on Twitter.